These skills do not affect the main grade but show the breadth of your profile.
AI Coding Assistants
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Uses ChatGPT/Claude for understanding complex game logic algorithms and generating server code prototypes. Formulates queries for help with network protocol configuration.
Applies LLMs to accelerate development — generating server system boilerplate code, analyzing game design documents, writing tests. Iteratively improves prompts for precise results.
Defines AI tool usage policy for the game server team. Evaluates LLM ROI, creates guidelines for safe usage when working with proprietary code.
Uses Cursor IDE for navigating the server codebase and getting AI suggestions when writing game logic. Applies basic autocomplete and built-in chat features.
Effectively applies Cursor IDE to accelerate development — generating server handlers, refactoring game logic, writing tests via AI-compose. Configures project context.
Defines AI-IDE usage standards for the server team. Trains developers on productive work patterns, creates shared configurations and rules for a consistent approach.
Understands basic GitHub Copilot usage for game server development: leveraging suggestions for networking and game loop code, using Copilot Chat for multiplayer architecture questions, accepting completions for game state management functions. Follows team guidelines for reviewing AI-generated game server code.
Independently configures GitHub Copilot for game server workflows: crafts prompts for networking and game state synchronization code, uses Copilot Chat for multiplayer architecture debugging, evaluates suggestion quality for performance-critical game logic. Understands trade-offs between AI-assisted speed and game server code reliability.
Defines GitHub Copilot strategy for game server teams: establishes guidelines for AI-assisted game logic development, designs performance validation standards for AI-generated server code, drives Copilot adoption with focus on game server reliability requirements.
Algorithms & Data Structures
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Understands the fundamentals of Algorithms & Complexity at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently applies algorithmic thinking in game server development: selects spatial partitioning algorithms for proximity queries, understands pathfinding algorithm trade-offs, evaluates state synchronization algorithms for multiplayer. Analyzes complexity of game loop operations and network update patterns.
Defines algorithmic standards for game server team: pathfinding algorithm selection, spatial partitioning strategy reviews, state synchronization algorithm evaluation. Conducts reviews of algorithmic decisions in latency-critical game systems.
Understands the fundamentals of Data Structures at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently selects appropriate data structures for game servers: entity collections for game state, spatial partitioning for proximity queries, packet buffers for network communication. Understands trade-offs between data layout choices for game loop performance.
Defines data structure standards for game server team: entity data layout conventions, network serialization format design, spatial indexing strategies. Conducts reviews of game state data architecture. Establishes team guidelines for cache-friendly data structures in performance-critical game systems.
API Management
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Documents basic server APIs — authorization endpoints, player profile retrieval, basic game actions. Uses OpenAPI format and describes request/response parameters.
Creates complete server API documentation — game API, admin API, SDK for client developers. Describes error protocols, rate limits, and usage examples for each endpoint.
Standardizes server API documentation approaches within the team. Ensures documentation accuracy through automated CI checks and integration with test contracts.
Application Security
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Knows key OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities and understands their risks for game servers. Aware of threats — SQL injection in APIs, XSS in chats, insecure serialization of game data.
Applies OWASP recommendations when developing server APIs — client input validation, replay attack protection, secure payment data handling in the game store.
Defines security strategy for the game server stack. Conducts threat modeling, organizes regular security audits, and coordinates incident response related to cheating.
Knows secure coding fundamentals — input validation, data escaping, parameterized queries. Applies these principles when processing game commands from the client.
Implements server-side validation of all client actions — movement boundary checks, inventory transaction validation, action speed control. Prevents common game exploits.
Defines secure development standards for the server team. Conducts security reviews of critical systems, organizes security training, and coordinates exploit response.
CI/CD
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Understands basic GitHub Actions for game servers: running build and test pipelines for server code, reading CI logs for compilation and test failures, understanding deployment workflow triggers. Follows team conventions for game server CI/CD pipeline usage.
Independently creates GitHub Actions workflows for game servers: configures build and test pipelines for server code, implements automated deployment to staging/production environments, automates version tagging and release management. Manages game server CI/CD configurations.
Defines DevOps strategy for game server teams: establishes CI/CD standards for live service deployment, implements platform engineering approaches for game server infrastructure, drives adoption of progressive delivery for game updates.
Clean Code & Refactoring
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Understands the fundamentals of Code Quality & Refactoring at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently applies code quality practices in game server development. Writes clean networking code with proper state synchronization and error recovery. Understands trade-offs between game loop performance and code readability. Reviews server code for tick consistency, memory allocation patterns, and concurrency safety.
Defines code quality standards for game server team: network protocol code conventions, game loop optimization guidelines, entity system architecture reviews. Conducts reviews of multiplayer synchronization code. Establishes quality gates for server performance and reliability.
Cloud Providers
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Knows core AWS services — EC2, S3, RDS — and understands their use for game server hosting. Performs basic operations via the console for monitoring instances and logs.
Deploys game servers on AWS using GameLift or ECS. Configures auto-scaling by CCU metrics, uses ElastiCache for sessions, and CloudFront for asset delivery.
Defines cloud strategy for game server infrastructure. Manages AWS budget, makes decisions on service selection and architectural patterns for scaling at launch.
Code Review
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Understands basic code review for game servers: reviewing gameplay logic changes, checking network handler modifications, validating game state management code. Follows team review guidelines for game server code quality.
Independently conducts code reviews for game servers: evaluates game logic correctness, reviews network handler efficiency, checks state synchronization patterns. Provides constructive feedback on game server performance and concurrency patterns.
Defines code review strategy for game server team: gameplay logic review standards, network code review governance, performance review practices. Establishes review culture for game server code quality and reliability.
Concurrency & Parallelism
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Understands the fundamentals of Async Programming at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently applies async programming in game servers: non-blocking network I/O handling, async game event processing, concurrent player session management. Understands trade-offs between async I/O and game loop synchronization patterns.
Defines async programming standards for game server team: non-blocking I/O architecture guidelines, async game loop integration reviews, concurrent player session management patterns. Establishes best practices for async patterns in low-latency game servers.
Containerization
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Understands basic Docker concepts for game servers: containerized game server instances, Docker images for dedicated server builds, basic docker-compose for local multiplayer testing. Uses ready-made configurations for game server containers.
Independently configures Docker for game servers: containerized dedicated server builds, docker-compose for local multiplayer testing environments, Dockerfile optimization for game server images. Understands container networking for low-latency game server communication and resource limits for server instances.
Defines Docker infrastructure strategy for game servers: container orchestration standards for dynamic server scaling, low-latency networking governance, game server container lifecycle policies. Conducts architecture reviews for containerized multiplayer infrastructure and optimizes server hosting costs.
Database Optimization
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Understands the purpose of database indexes and their impact on query performance. Knows when to create indexes for player, item, and match result tables.
Creates efficient indexes for game databases — composite indexes for leaderboards, partial indexes for active sessions, covering indexes for frequent player profile queries.
Defines indexing standards for server databases. Conducts regular index audits, monitors inefficient queries, and automates optimization recommendations.
Distributed Tracing
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Understands basics of OpenTelemetry for game server observability. Follows team guidelines for instrumenting matchmaking, game session, and player state services with OTel SDK. Reads distributed traces to debug game server latency and player connection issues.
Instruments server code with OpenTelemetry — game session tracing, matchmaking metrics, critical event logging. Configures export to Jaeger/Prometheus.
Standardizes observability practices for the server team. Defines SLI/SLO for game systems, configures dashboards for on-call engineers, and sets up telemetry processing pipelines.
Git & Workflows
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Understands basic Git advanced features for game server development: branching for game version releases, cherry-pick for hotfix propagation to live server branches, stash for switching between gameplay feature tasks. Follows team conventions for managing game server builds and version tags.
Independently uses Git advanced features for game server projects: manages version branches for live/staging/development game environments, resolves conflicts in game configuration and balance data files, implements hooks for build validation. Understands trade-offs between branching strategies for concurrent game updates.
Defines Git strategy for game server teams: establishes branching standards for live service operations with rollback capabilities, designs merge policies for concurrent content and feature updates, drives adoption of Git-based deployment workflows for game server infrastructure.
GraphQL
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Understands basics of GraphQL schema design for game backend services. Writes simple queries for player profile, inventory, and matchmaking data endpoints. Follows team conventions for exposing game state through GraphQL subscriptions and queries.
Designs GraphQL schemas for game server APIs — player profiles, leaderboards, store. Implements resolvers with dataloaders to optimize N+1 queries, configures subscriptions.
Defines GraphQL usage strategy for the server stack. Standardizes schema design approaches, establishes naming conventions, depth limiting, and performance budgets for queries.
Integration Testing
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Understands the purpose of integration tests in the game server context. Runs ready-made test suites for verifying server component interactions — authentication, database, and game logic.
Develops integration tests for verifying server system interactions — matchmaking with lobby, game-state with persistence layer. Configures test environments with real dependencies.
Standardizes integration testing practices for the server team. Implements staging environments with production-like configuration and automated smoke tests before every deployment.
Logging
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Understands basic structured logging for game servers: implementing structured logs for game events and player actions, understanding log levels for gameplay vs system events, JSON logging for game state changes. Follows team conventions for game server logging patterns.
Configures structured logging for game server systems: implements contextual logging for player sessions and game events, creates dashboards for game server performance and player experience metrics, sets up alerts for lag spikes and matchmaking issues. Analyzes gameplay incidents using distributed log traces.
Defines observability strategy for game server products: establishes SLO-based approach for player experience metrics, coordinates incident management for live game services, optimizes MTTD/MTTR for game server issues through real-time monitoring and automated recovery.
Memory Management
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Understands the fundamentals of Memory Management at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Manages memory for game server tick loops: object pooling for entities, pre-allocated buffers for network packets, and arena allocators for per-frame data. Understands GC impact on tick rate consistency in managed languages. Profiles memory allocation patterns under concurrent player load.
Defines memory management standards for game server development teams. Establishes memory budgets per game system, allocation policies, and profiling requirements. Conducts architectural reviews of memory-critical game systems. Creates guidelines and training on custom allocator usage, GC tuning, and memory-efficient networking.
Defines organizational strategy for memory management in game server infrastructure. Makes technology decisions on runtime selection (managed vs native), allocator frameworks, and hardware memory requirements. Drives adoption of memory-efficient architectures across game projects. Mentors lead developers on memory architecture and shapes technical vision for server performance.
Message Queues & Event Streaming
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Uses Apache Kafka at a basic level in dedicated servers/Photon. Performs simple tasks using ready-made templates. Understands basic concepts and follows team practices.
Independently implements tasks with Apache Kafka in dedicated servers/Photon. Understands internals and optimizes performance. Writes tests using load testing.
Defines Kafka strategy for game platform: event schema standards, topic governance policies, and cluster sizing for game workloads. Conducts architecture reviews for event-driven game systems. Creates best practices for game event processing and analytics pipeline design.
Defines organizational event streaming strategy for game infrastructure. Evaluates Kafka vs alternative messaging technologies for different game workloads. Establishes enterprise event architecture standards and reference implementations for game studios.
Metrics & Monitoring
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Understands basic Prometheus & Grafana for game servers: reading server performance dashboards (tick rate, player count, latency), understanding game-specific metric types, navigating Grafana panels for matchmaking and session health. Follows team conventions for game server monitoring.
Configures Prometheus and Grafana for game server monitoring: implements custom metrics for game state (player count, tick rate, match latency), creates dashboards for game server cluster health, sets up alerts for player experience degradation. Analyzes game incidents using server metric correlation.
Defines observability strategy for game server products with Prometheus & Grafana: establishes SLO-based approach for player experience metrics, coordinates game incident management, optimizes MTTD/MTTR for game server issues through real-time monitoring.
Defines organizational observability strategy for game platforms with Prometheus & Grafana: implements enterprise monitoring infrastructure for multi-title game services, builds reliability culture across game development studios, establishes enterprise SLO framework for player experience metrics at scale.
Networking
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Understands basic networking concepts for game server development — UDP/TCP for game traffic, client-server latency measurement, and NAT traversal basics. Follows team guidelines for configuring game server network settings and debugging player connection issues.
Works with game server network protocols — implements reliable delivery over UDP, configures keep-alive, optimizes packet size. Profiles network performance.
Defines network strategy for the game project — protocol selection, server topology, CDN for assets. Ensures connection quality for a global audience.
OOP & Design Patterns
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Understands the fundamentals of Design Patterns at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently applies design patterns for game servers: state pattern for game entity behavior, observer for event-driven game systems, command pattern for player action processing, object pool for performance-critical entity management. Explains pattern trade-offs for real-time game server architectures.
Defines design pattern standards for game server teams: establishes architectural review practices for game system patterns (ECS, command, state), creates guidelines for pattern selection in real-time multiplayer contexts, conducts training on game-specific architectural patterns.
Understands the fundamentals of OOP & SOLID Principles at a basic level. Applies simple concepts in work tasks using C++/Go/C#. Follows recommendations from senior developers when solving problems.
Independently applies OOP/SOLID in game server architecture: entity-component composition patterns, interface-based game system design, single responsibility in network message handlers. Understands trade-offs between deep inheritance hierarchies and ECS composition for game entity modeling.
Defines OOP/SOLID standards for game server team: entity-component-system architecture guidelines, game system interface contracts, network handler abstraction patterns. Conducts reviews of inheritance vs composition decisions in game entity modeling.
Prompt Engineering
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Formulates simple prompts for generating game server logic — event handlers, data models, configuration files. Uses context to refine generation results.
Creates structured prompts for solving complex server tasks — tick-rate optimization, network protocol design, performance metric analysis using AI tools.
Defines prompt engineering standards for the server team. Creates prompt libraries for code review, incident response, and architectural decision documentation.
REST API
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Understands basic REST API concepts for game services: player profile endpoints, leaderboard APIs, matchmaking request/response patterns. Follows team conventions for game backend API design and authentication for game clients.
Independently designs REST APIs for game services: player profile and inventory endpoints, leaderboard API with pagination, matchmaking and lobby management APIs. Understands best practices for game API rate limiting, authentication token management, and real-time data polling patterns.
Defines API strategy for game platforms at product level: game service API standards, player data API governance, analytics and telemetry API policies. Conducts API architecture reviews for game backend services and platform integrations.
System Design
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Understands basic system design principles and client-server game architecture. Knows the roles of core components — game server, lobby server, matchmaking, persistence layer.
Designs server architecture for specific game modes with scalability in mind. Separates stateful and stateless components, selects appropriate state synchronization patterns.
Conducts architectural reviews of server systems and makes strategic technology stack decisions. Balances architectural complexity with development speed for new content.
Type Systems
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Understands the benefits of typing in server code and uses basic types. Annotates game event handler functions, character data structures, and inventory items.
Designs type-safe interfaces for server systems — strictly typed game events, protocol messages, API contracts. Uses generic types and discriminated unions.
Defines typing standards for the server codebase. Selects tools and approaches, ensures strict types at service boundaries, and auto-generates types from protocol schemas.
Unit Testing
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Writes simple unit tests for game logic — damage calculation verification, inventory validation, state machine testing. Understands arrange-act-assert structure and uses basic assert methods.
Covers server game logic with tests — matchmaking, economy, progression systems. Uses mocks to isolate from DB and network layers, applies parameterized tests for edge cases.
Defines testing standards for the server team — minimum coverage, mandatory load test scenarios, testing policies before every game update.